Community
Law Corner:
Article 12
Squatters a consequence of Crisis
By José Luis Navarro www.intercala.com
The Solicitor and Property Administrator for Intercala Administration
and
Pete Woodall (Woody's Los Boliches)
This article first appeared in the Euro Weekly News, Costa del Sol Edition May 2012
A consequence of this current crisis in Spain is a steep increase in the number of people who have lost their homes.
Many often respectable families have suddenly found themselves unable to keep up the mortgage or pay the rent. Faced with very few other options some of the soon to be homeless have taken to squatting.
Squatting in Spain has been common practice amongst organized groups in the Barcelona area for the last twenty years
but is now on the increase by individuals and families throughout the whole country. It is a complex legal scenario and should be seen from two different angles. On one side, under Spanish high law, article 47 - “every citizen has the right to live in a home” and on the other side, article 33 states, “everyone has the right to legally use and own a property.”
To complicate matters further the Spanish legal system provides two ways by which a property owner may protect themselves from illegal occupation. The first is to sue the squatters, prove that they have no legal right to use the property and the judge orders them to pack up and move on. The second, and often more advantageous way for an owner, is to start a criminal procedure. Article 245.2 of Spanish Criminal Law states “ the one who occupies permanently a property against the will of its owner will be committing a criminal offence and will be sentenced to pay a fine”
As an occupation has to be “against the will of the owner” the only person entitled to instigate criminal proceedings is the owner and no one else. However, it can not take for granted that a judge will always accept a squatting case as a criminal offence. Some judges would consider that a criminal case would not be appropriate if a property had been left empty for a long period of time and not well maintained. If this were to be the situation then the owner would have to revert to civil procedure and sue.
Every “squat” is different and it is rarely a good idea to generalize, nevertheless squatters fall loosely into two groups, “compatible and incompatible” with the local community. In many cases illegal occupations have caused severe problems for the surrounding community and although the community can do little in court, it can take steps to prevent such problems occurring in the first place.
Squatters will tend to occupy houses that they consider will not cause them future problems, abandoned empty houses, without active caring owners, make an easy and tempting target. Simple steps like closing windows, doors and gates and instructing any community security guards to keep a watchful eye on run down empty houses will help. Notify absent owners by telephone or email if their empty house is suddenly occupied, remember owners are the only ones who can start legal proceedings against squatters.
The local police should be informed immediately if anyone tries to occupy an empty house, the couple of hours between squatters entering a property and setting up home can make all the difference. In some municipalities, the town halls and local police are doing all they can to avoid these situations, so take advantage of it.
There are two sides to every story, it is the courts who will decide matters once an illegal occupant has set up home in a property and under the present circumstances the courts may not necessarily come down on the side of the owners. Further more the legal system is terribly overloaded in Spain and court cases can drag on for a very long time and the police can do absolutely nothing without a court order from a judge. Taking all of this into consideration for an owner or a concerned community, prevention is better than cure.
As usual,
We at Intercala Administration strongly suggest you always seek proper and competent advice in all matters regarding the law.
Squatters a consequence of Crisis
By José Luis Navarro www.intercala.com
The Solicitor and Property Administrator for Intercala Administration
and
Pete Woodall (Woody's Los Boliches)
This article first appeared in the Euro Weekly News, Costa del Sol Edition May 2012
A consequence of this current crisis in Spain is a steep increase in the number of people who have lost their homes.
Many often respectable families have suddenly found themselves unable to keep up the mortgage or pay the rent. Faced with very few other options some of the soon to be homeless have taken to squatting.
Squatting in Spain has been common practice amongst organized groups in the Barcelona area for the last twenty years
but is now on the increase by individuals and families throughout the whole country. It is a complex legal scenario and should be seen from two different angles. On one side, under Spanish high law, article 47 - “every citizen has the right to live in a home” and on the other side, article 33 states, “everyone has the right to legally use and own a property.”
To complicate matters further the Spanish legal system provides two ways by which a property owner may protect themselves from illegal occupation. The first is to sue the squatters, prove that they have no legal right to use the property and the judge orders them to pack up and move on. The second, and often more advantageous way for an owner, is to start a criminal procedure. Article 245.2 of Spanish Criminal Law states “ the one who occupies permanently a property against the will of its owner will be committing a criminal offence and will be sentenced to pay a fine”
As an occupation has to be “against the will of the owner” the only person entitled to instigate criminal proceedings is the owner and no one else. However, it can not take for granted that a judge will always accept a squatting case as a criminal offence. Some judges would consider that a criminal case would not be appropriate if a property had been left empty for a long period of time and not well maintained. If this were to be the situation then the owner would have to revert to civil procedure and sue.
Every “squat” is different and it is rarely a good idea to generalize, nevertheless squatters fall loosely into two groups, “compatible and incompatible” with the local community. In many cases illegal occupations have caused severe problems for the surrounding community and although the community can do little in court, it can take steps to prevent such problems occurring in the first place.
Squatters will tend to occupy houses that they consider will not cause them future problems, abandoned empty houses, without active caring owners, make an easy and tempting target. Simple steps like closing windows, doors and gates and instructing any community security guards to keep a watchful eye on run down empty houses will help. Notify absent owners by telephone or email if their empty house is suddenly occupied, remember owners are the only ones who can start legal proceedings against squatters.
The local police should be informed immediately if anyone tries to occupy an empty house, the couple of hours between squatters entering a property and setting up home can make all the difference. In some municipalities, the town halls and local police are doing all they can to avoid these situations, so take advantage of it.
There are two sides to every story, it is the courts who will decide matters once an illegal occupant has set up home in a property and under the present circumstances the courts may not necessarily come down on the side of the owners. Further more the legal system is terribly overloaded in Spain and court cases can drag on for a very long time and the police can do absolutely nothing without a court order from a judge. Taking all of this into consideration for an owner or a concerned community, prevention is better than cure.
As usual,
We at Intercala Administration strongly suggest you always seek proper and competent advice in all matters regarding the law.